Judge Wright had ordered six other Prenda affiliates (or alleged affiliates) to show up in response to his order regarding possible sanctions for their behavior. None of those named parties showed up to the hearing in person, apart from Alan Cooper of Minnesota. (Cooper has alleged that Prenda attorney John Steele used Cooper's name improperly as the CEO of copyright licensing firm AF Holdings.) Lawyers Steele, Paul Hansmeier, Paul Duffy, and Prenda paralegal Angela Van Den Hemel had filed a notice on Friday saying that travel to the Central District Court of California was impossible for the out-of-state parties. Today, they were represented by another attorney who identified herself as Heather Rosing.

The strange hearing produced such a mix-up of roles that even the lawyers had lawyers—and people didn't know where to sit. Prenda's erstwhile attorney Brett Gibbs cut ties with Prenda Law after the firm found itself in a messy bind regarding the practices it used to serve lawsuits to hundreds of Does suspected of illegally downloading porn; he hired his own attorneys to represent him at the hearing. “I’m not sure what side we’re supposed to be on,” said one of them as he tried to decide whether he belonged at the defense or plaintiff table.

In the quiet second-floor courtroom, Wright sat down and began. "This is an OSC [Order to Show Cause] set by the court as to why sanctions should not be imposed,” Wright growled. Holding up a stack of papers at least five inches high, he said, “I spent the weekend reading a depo [deposition] which is perhaps the most revealing document thus far, as far as what they [Prenda] didn’t want revealed.”

That was a reference to the seven-hour deposition given by Hansmeier to defense attorney Morgan Pietz, who led most of the questioning today. Judge Wright also angrily questioned Rosing about her clients’ failure to show up. When Rosing tried to speak on behalf of her clients, Wright told her that if they weren't present, he wasn't interested in hearing her talk about them.

Gibbs' attorney, Andrew Waxler, noted that Steele, Hansmeier, Duffy, and Van Den Hemel had made themselves available for questioning by phone. “I may take you up on that,” responded the judge. However, Wright didn't ultimately have anyone phone them, possibly because no statements could have been made under oath.

“The court will be drawing its own inferences with the information it actually has,” Wright told the lawyers. “It is obvious that someone has an awful lot to hide.”

ISPs show up to trash Prenda

Today, Verizon filed a brief saying it was never told that a judge had shut down Prenda's discovery efforts—information it should have been given. Rather, Verizon said it found out about the judge's order only after it had delivered the information to Prenda.

It was Gibb’s responsibility to notify the company after Prenda dropped the lawsuit that was miring it in so much grief from the courts. But this didn't happen. Gibbs then testified, as he has before, that Hansmeier told him the ISPs did get the documents.

An AT&T lawyer also took the stand to say it too was never notified of the canceled subpoenas, but AT&T didn't serve the names to Prenda (unlike Verizon) because it found the order to vacate while an employee was looking through documents on the federal court's PACER system.

“Mr. Gibbs was very surprised because he understood, as he does today, that the order has been served,” Waxler said. He then suggested that perhaps the orders had been lost in Verizon and AT&T’s mailing labyrinth.

Wright turns to Gibbs

Gibbs wore a very solemn face through the testimony, and his lawyers (Waxler along with a second attorney) did their best to present an ignorant man to the court. In some respects, “I was their secretary essentially,” Gibbs said.

The judge pointedly asked Waxler if his client had a "hold harmless" agreement. Waxler said that Gibbs did not.

Gibbs was also taken to task by Wright about his failure to disclose a notice of related cases each time he filed a complaint against several Does. “Why is it that in every single one of these cases, there’s no notice of related cases?” the judge fired off.

Waxler responded, “The downloads are done by separate infringers and while the plaintiffs are largely the same… perhaps it was in error, Your Honor.” Wright pressed, saying that a lawsuit over a porn title called Popular Demand looked exactly like another filed around the same time.

Waxler answered, “Well obviously they are relat—“

“That’s what I thought, too,” Wright quipped as he cut the attorney off coolly.

Alan Cooper (the real one) speaks

Only one Alan Cooper showed up today, and he took the stand to assert that he had no connection with AF Holdings or to any Prenda lawyers besides Steele. Cooper was essentially Steele's housesitter, he said, living in one of two houses Steele owned on a piece of property in Minnesota. Cooper, a tall man with white hair, stood in contrast to the rest of the suited courtroom—he wore jeans and a T-shirt.

When questioned on the interactions he had with Steele, Cooper said he tried not to talk to Steele too much. But what Steele did tell him was revealing. “His goal was $10,000 a day from mailing all the letters," said Cooper.

“What letters?” the judge asked.

“I’m not very Internet savvy myself,” Cooper said. “But he would ask for a check or make it public to these families what they were looking at.”

When he thought Steele was using his identity, Cooper sought legal counsel; Steele eventually sued him for defamation (the suit was later withdrawn). The court then played four voicemail messages Steele left for Cooper, apparently in the aftermath of the defamation claims. “I want to remind you that you have an obligation [to return calls], otherwise it gets very ugly from here," Steele said in the voicemail. "I would like to try to work this out at a convenient time for everyone."

“I can assure you that ignoring legal matters won’t make them go away,” Steele said to Cooper in another voicemail. He was still willing to address “any settlement discussions you’d like to address.”

No sanctions tonight

Wright was clearly displeased with Gibbs and other Prenda affiliates. But the hearing lasted far longer than expected, nearly three hours in total. Wright eventually adjourned, saying he had heard enough. It’s impossible to tell what the court will do, but Wright seemed most angered by the obfuscation of Steele and Hansmeier, rather than the work of Gibbs.

“The client has been running everything here,” Wright said pointedly. “And I know who the client is,” he added, implying it was John Steele. Wright then dismissed Gibbs from the stand.

You hope it pays off - that these guys will get what they deserve. I look at Righthaven, their CEO/Lawyer Steve Gibson still hasn't paid most of the damages currently pending against him. Its difficult and disappointing that they can do an end-run around the system because they know it so well.

The strange hearing produced such a mix-up of roles that even the lawyers had lawyers—and people didn't know where to sit. Prenda's erstwhile attorney Brett Gibbs cut ties with Prenda Law after the firm found itself in a messy bind regarding the practices it used to serve lawsuits to hundreds of Does suspected of illegally downloading porn and hired his own attorneys to represent Gibbs at the hearing. “I’m not sure what side we’re supposed to be on,” said one of them as he tried to decide whether he belonged at the defense or plaintiff table.

Not being versed in US law, I'd be grateful if somebody could outline what prenda law faces here in terms of sanctions.

Am I right to assume prenda can be found to be the plaintiff due to lack of proper separation between ad holdings and prenda? So financial penalty for improper lawsuit.

I'd also guess sanctions on lawyers in LA from the judge. But what of those who are licenses outside the state? Steele and co, as in their filing will assert the court has no jurisdiction outside the state. So what then? Report them to the state bar and hope something comes of it?

The lack of any real progress in todays hearing is disappointing, but to be expected, given Prenda's tactics so far. I hope their day of reckoning comes soon.

If we didn't get to see Steele, et al modeling stylish new steel bracelets there was progress. Prenda was given the opportunity to stop digging itself deeper but instead went looking through plans from the glory days of nuclear engineering and resurrected Project Plowshare.

Thanks for the detailed write-up, Megan! I've been waiting all day to see what the judge had to say, and he sure didn't sound happy. Now I just hope he severely sanctions everyone involved in Prenda...

So Steele was trying to pay off his House Sitter/Caretaker the real Alan Cooper after he and his Atoorney brought the mis-use and identity theft allegations to the court, and yet was dumb enough to leave those voicemails which seem like an intimidation tactic to coerce a settlement and too make the real Alan Cooper and his complaint go away so The fictional Alan Cooper could continue along..... Interesting

I believe that Gibbs hired the Lawyers to defend him as a sahm so he could say he wasnt complicit in Prendas activities and not just a babysitter....I love how Judge Wright called him out as he is now counsel at the new AF Holdings and Hard Drive productions. Why would Gibss stay on the team if he wanted to distance himself from Prenda...I rthink he has a finacial intrest much like the others do in these copyright litigation mess

I see some people getting reffered to the U.S. attorneys office and maybe even to the FBI...cause I smell a RICO conspiracy!

Not being versed in US law, I'd be grateful if somebody could outline what prenda law faces here in terms of sanctions.

Am I right to assume prenda can be found to be the plaintiff due to lack of proper separation between ad holdings and prenda? So financial penalty for improper lawsuit.

I'd also guess sanctions on lawyers in LA from the judge. But what of those who are licenses outside the state? Steele and co, as in their filing will assert the court has no jurisdiction outside the state. So what then? Report them to the state bar and hope something comes of it?

Judge Wright could certainly issue monetary sanctions against, at a minimum, Mr. Gibbs. The question of what other attorneys he could sanction under Rule 11 and his own inherent authority depends on a tedious discussion too long for this post; suffice it to say that he might conclude that he can sanction supervisory attorneys with Prenda Law.

Judge Wright's terrifying comment aside, his ability to jail people before him for contempt is quite limited when they have not been charged with a crime by the executive. That, too, is a discussion too complex for this post. But Judge Wright might well refer the case to the U.S. Attorney's Office for criminal prosecution if he concludes that criminal contempt or fraud has occurred. Such referrals tend to get immediate and intense attention. Moreover, if Judge Wright finds misconduct, he could refer the matter to various state bars.

Whatever happens on March 11, one thing is clear: Judge Wright has concluded that the evidence before him justifies an intense inquiry, including summoning multiple people associated with Prenda Law to his court. Judge Wright's actions are, though within his power, quite rare and exceptionally ominous for Prenda Law and its principals.

When he thought Steele was using his identity, Cooper sought legal counsel; Steele eventually sued him for defamation (the suit was later withdrawn).

Megan, while technically correct, it is a bit misleading to those who are not familiar with the details. There were three lawsuits filed v. Alan Cooper, his attorney Paul Godfread and does 1-10 (yours truly is among those Does), and only one, Steele v Godfread at al., has been dismissed. Two others (nearly identical) are still lingering in Illinois.

So Steele was trying to pay off his House Sitter/Caretaker the real Alan Cooper after he and his Atoorney brought the mis-use and identity theft allegations to the court, and yet was dumb enough to leave those voicemails which seem like an intimidation tactic to coerce a settlement and too make the real Alan Cooper and his complaint go away [...]

Not only that, but Steele was aware that Cooper was represented by an attorney, so attempting to contact him directly is a big no-no.

After realizing that Ars' coverage of this trial has provided me far more entertainment this year alone than a movie ticket with popcorn and coke, I decided to pull the trigger and go full Subscriptor. Popcorn on the couch and a Prenda article beats out a sticky theater any time. Bravo, Ars! *munch munch*

Not being versed in US law, I'd be grateful if somebody could outline what prenda law faces here in terms of sanctions.

Am I right to assume prenda can be found to be the plaintiff due to lack of proper separation between ad holdings and prenda? So financial penalty for improper lawsuit.

I'd also guess sanctions on lawyers in LA from the judge. But what of those who are licenses outside the state? Steele and co, as in their filing will assert the court has no jurisdiction outside the state. So what then? Report them to the state bar and hope something comes of it?

I believe he can issue a bench warrant for their arrest for contempt of court. Should he do that, they will be in jeopardy of being jailed if they set foot in California.

The lack of any real progress in todays hearing is disappointing, but to be expected, given Prenda's tactics so far. I hope their day of reckoning comes soon.

I disagree that there was a lack of progress. The judge clearly indicated that he's done allowing the Prenda people to play their shell game anymore. This hearing today was his way of telling them that they had one opportunity to dissuade him of the opinion that they were behind all these fake companies, had committed several rule violations, and had flat out broken the law. That they decided not to show up just meant that they forfeited their opportunity. He'll rule without hearing their excuses, and he's going to bring the hammer down on them.

I think Popehat's assessment is spot on. I think the judge is going to issue a rather scathing opinion that Prenda is guilty of a bunch of violations. Of the things he can't punish directly, he'll forward on to the proper authorities, who probably will be pretty convinced to file charges. So yeah, I think there was a lot of progress today!

Also, sometimes I really love Ars. The one person bitching about seeing coverage on this story has his comments down voted into oblivion.